Have your say on Green City Sheffield

The council has launched a debate around how the city can continue on its journey to becoming a zero carbon city by 2050.

The team behind Green City Sheffield has launched a survey and wants people’s views on a number of initiatives around its new six-point plan, contained within the Green City Strategy. They are seeking views from residents and individuals as well as businesses and other organisations and will be launching a new partnership that will tackle these issues.

The Green City Strategy, endorsed by the council last month, aims to reduce the city’s impact on the climate by taking steps to move to a low-carbon economy immediately and becoming a zero-carbon city by 2050.

It also sets out to empower communities, residents, public sector and businesses become resilient to climate change and help to enable the city’s homes and businesses to use sustainable and affordable energy.

It will enable modern, reliable and clean journeys for everyone, ensure air is clean for all and create a green and innovative economy by supporting Sheffield businesses to become more energy efficient and delivering new low-carbon jobs for local people.

Green City Sheffield builds upon the ground-breaking work of the Sheffield Green Commission, which was set up in 2016 to tackle a series of issues on sustainability and air quality.

Sheffield is already on the path to becoming a low-carbon economy. The Council has trialled the largest fleet of hydrogen vehicles outside of London and followed Westminster Council by announcing plans to introduce anti-idling measures to stop people leaving their engines running outside schools.

It was one of the first cities in the UK to introduce a district heating network. As a further sign of its commitment, the Council has also introduced the UK’s largest dockless bike sharing scheme, Ofo.

By 2020, the Council will have achieved a 30 per cent reduction in carbon emissions, and, by 2025 the Council and its partners will have substantially increased the level of low carbon and renewable energy generation in the city.

By 2030, a majority of the city’s energy will be supplied from low carbon and renewable technologies, with work already being progressed to determine how the Council can use its own assets to generate renewable energy, and develop its existing energy networks.

The council is launching a debate around how the city can adopt and stay within an agreed carbon budget, which enables Sheffield to deliver its share of the Paris Agreement; that will limit average temperature increases to well-below 2 degrees Celsius, and will have the aim of ensuring Sheffield becomes a zero carbon city by 2050.